Obradovich: Branstad, Grassley take different tacks on tea party

Oct. 21, 2013

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says Republicans lost the federal government shutdown budget battle because some members of his own party in Congress turned on their colleagues — but he thinks it won't happen again. / carolyn kaster/associated press file photo

Written by

Kathie Obradovich

Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday that he’d politely welcome U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz to Iowa on Friday, but the governor criticized Republicans as well as Democrats in Washington for fiscal fumbles.

Cruz, a Texas Republican, will headline the Iowa Republican Party’s fundraising dinner on Friday night. It will be his first visit to the state since he gained notoriety by leading tea party Republicans in pushing to defund Obamacare even to the point of a government shutdown.

Branstad said Cruz is welcome, but he downplayed the senator’s influence.

“He’s a bright young guy. He’s just one of 100 members of the Senate. I think we should hear from all viewpoints, but as you’ve heard from me, I believe the leadership in this country is coming from the governors and from the states, and not from Washington, D.C.,” Branstad said. “And I don’t think one freshman senator can turn this all around. I think it’s going to take executive leadership.”

Branstad has accused President Barack Obama of failing to lead on budget and spending issues. He extended the blame to both parties in Congress.

“I’m very disappointed and very critical of both parties for the lack of leadership in Washington, D.C.,” Branstad said. “The president and the Congress, both parties, both houses, I think deserve the kind of low approval ratings they get from the American people because of the lack of leadership they’re providing for this country.”

It’s not the first time Branstad has sung the praises of governors over members of Congress. He’s not alone, either. During the federal shutdown, which ended last week, the Republican Governors Association was promoting a series of Web interviews with GOP governors called “American Comeback.”

Sen. John Kasich of Ohio, in a video released Oct. 3, had this to say: “The frustration that I have with the federal government is they put the wind in our face rather than the wind at our back. And what we really need are politicians who really think much less about the next election and much more about the fact that they have a great opportunity to be able to help people, to be able to solve problems in order to grow our economies. Too much politics, too little real public service,” he said, according to RGA’s website.

In Iowa earlier this month, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, played up Republican governors as the most credible potential candidates for 2016. He said governors can show executive accomplishments that they don’t have to share with a bunch of fellow legislators, as senators do.

Branstad’s cool responseto Cruz is a contrast with that of Sen. Chuck Grassley. The Republican from Iowa voted last week with the Texas senator and 16 of their GOP colleagues against the bill to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. An email under Grassley’s name went out last Friday, promoting the Republican Party’s Ronald Reagan Dinner and Cruz as the headline speaker.

So Branstad, who’s expected to be on the ballot in 2014 but hasn’t formally announced, isn’t directly poking Cruz’s tea party supporters in the eye, but he’s not making any particular effort to appease them, either.

Grassley, on the other hand, who has already said he plans to run in 2016, sided with Cruz and the tea party over Republicans who were infuriated by the toll the strategy took on the GOP brand in public opinion polls. But Grassley has not, like Cruz, publicly criticized his GOP colleagues who voted against the effort to use the continuing budget resolution and debt ceiling as leverage to defund Obamacare.

Branstad doesn’t seem worried about a primary challenge from the right. Grassley isn’t particularly vulnerable, either, but he seems more cautious. While Grassley has long been one of the most popular politicians in the state, nearly 7 in 10 Iowans think the nation is on the wrong track, according to a Register Iowa Poll taken in September. Branstad’s approval was in the mid-50s, but a majority of Iowans thought the state was headed in the right direction.

Grassley angered some GOP conservatives in 2009 by trying to work out a compromise on Obamacare, but he ultimately didn’t vote for it and he avoided a primary in 2010. Branstad, on the other hand, won his primary in 2010 and so far faces no challenge for 2014. Time will tell whether courting the tea party is the way to Cruz to re-election.